Glad to hear that West Virginia is re-inventing itself.

G. Matthew Bulley
Director
Bulley-Hewlett & Associates
www.bulley-hewlett.com
Cary, NC USA
888.468.4880 tollfree

-----Original Message-----
From:   Sam Scholten [SMTP:scholten1@MARSHALL.EDU]
Sent:   Monday, November 15, 1999 3:18 PM
To:     vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject:        WV's "New Image" (Re: Copy all you want, VW try and stop me!)

Sorry to ressurect a dead thread, but I'm in nomail mode and surfed the
archives...

When VW pounces, look out! Remember the Absolut VW guy? He got
threatened with litigation. His tirade on the website, something to the
effect of "VW used to appreciate this fan-club stuff but doesn't
anymore" reminded me of something I read in Alternative Press, a glossy
rock monthly.

The article was about indie-rock bands who are desperate and "sell out"
their songs to car ads. The main focus was WV, who used songs by
Velocity Girl and like bands to appeal to Gen-X folks who are my age
(and presumably have the $$$ to make payments on a new Jetta). The whole
idea is because VWoA wanted to "relaunch the VW nameplate in America"
and to shed the image of WV as "the Beetle and hippies driving its
vans." The gist was that VWoA wanted to reinvent itself completely.

In short, the days of the Nordhoff VW are long gone, never to rturn.
Perhaps the owner-appreciative days are, too.

Sam

(304) 744-8773
http://listen.to/howl